Dirty Jean Jacket
by AthiestChurch
Summary: Austin Moon is a homeless orphan that has spent almost his entire life drifting around the country. He has no ties to anyone or anyplace, until he comes to Miami, Florida. There, his world is thrown out of balance by three teenagers who forcibly shove themselves into his life. He had never spent more than a week in a town but one girl named Ally was making it hard for him to leave.
1. Prologue

Disclaimer: I do not own Austin and Ally.

* * *

Dirty Jean Jacket

Prologue

"Hey kid, you can't sleep here." An officer lightly whacked him with the back of his hand. Austin jumped, stirring from his deep slumber. He flinched when his tired eyes were blinded by the light of the police officer's flashlight. He groaned and sat up from his spot on the park bench. It was two in the morning and the park was completely empty, excluding himself and the officer that had woken him. "You need to go home, kid. It's late."

"Oh, yeah. Sure, sorry." Austin grumbled out, blinking sleep out of his eyes. He got up the park bench and crouched down into a squat. He grabbed his backpack out from under the bench and threw it over his shoulder. He waved the officer goodbye and walked off, pretending he didn't notice the suspicious looks the cop was giving him.

His jeans were worn and covered in tears and holes, his wrinkled grey sweatshirt was faded and had various tears on it. The hood was thin and covered in muck. His favorite jean jacket was in slightly better shape than the rest of his clothing but was stained and covered in dirt. He had bought it with some money he was bale to scrounge a few years ago for the winter. The sleeves were made of black leather and was by far the most valuable piece of clothing he had ever owned. His red converse were falling apart and were caked in dirt and grime. He himself was dirty, his hair was a mop of tangled blonde tresses. He was filthy from head to toe, even his backpack was nasty.

He shoved his hands in his jacket pockets and turned down and old alleyway behind an empty building. He needed to find a place where the police couldn't find him. Austin tried the door of the abandoned building. It was locked. He pulled out a pin and picked the lock. Austin smiled when he heard a clicking sound. He opened the door and slipped in. It was empty and the walls were bare. He threw his bag down and laid on the floor, using the bag as a pillow. Hopefully, the police wouldn't find him here. He got lucky that the cop hadn't dragged him to the station on the spot. He definitely would have if he knew that Austin had no home. He had no family either, not that he knew of.

Austin was a homeless orphan. He had no friends, no home, no family, and almost no money. His earliest memory was of his foster father beating him half to death with a metal bat when he was three. He had spent nearly two months in the hospital in a coma. Austin spent his life in and out of a rundown orphanage in Chicago, switching foster families, up until he was ten when he ran away. The other children there were harsh and the older kids bullied the younger ones. Austin was beaten by them almost as bad as he was by his foster father. The other foster families weren't much better. They were dysfunctional and the foster family often forgot that he was even there. He knew that no one was ever going to come adopt him, so he left there and took charge of what little of a life he had.

He became a wanderer. Austin traveled around the country, never staying in one town for more than a week. He walked everywhere, unable to afford bus fair, let alone a car. He made what money he could by singing on the street corners. He didn't have an instrument so he had to make due with what he could find on the streets to make music. People seemed to like him enough to give him a good amount of money. His voice wasn't all that bad. He thought he was actually kinda good.

Every day was a struggle to find food and stay alive. The street life was cruel and hard but it was better than an orphanage. It was all he knew. He met tons of people but never made a real friend. He had seen dozens of cities and had been in nearly every state, but never had a real home. Austin wasn't depressed or angry with his life, though. He made due with what he had. He did his best to look at the world with a positive outlook and enjoy every moment he had. He didn't know when he'd be dead, so he made every second count.

He was seventeen now, almost an adult. He had seen practically the entire country and even parts of Canada. Now, he found himself in Miami, Florida. He had actually been there before when he was fourteen. Austin decided to come back. He wanted to see the ocean. He wanted to smell that salty air and feel the sand in between his toes.

He thought only of the beach when he crossed the border into Florida. He had no idea how much his life would change when he got there. He wasn't planning on making friends or finding a home. He was a humble, lost child without a purpose and that's how he lived his life. He had no clue how much three people would change his very existence.

Austin Moon had never been in love and never thought he would be, until he met Ally Dawson and got sucked into her crazy, beautiful world.

* * *

The Prologue everyone. I don't know where this idea came from but it's in writing now and I hope you like it.


	2. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do no own Austin and Ally.

* * *

Dirty Jean Jacket

Chapter 1

Austin woke to the sound of chirping birds. Bright sunlight poured into the window, hitting him straight in the eye. He groaned from his spot on the dirty floor. He didn't get all that much sleep, but that was something he was used to. It was just something to expect when one lived somewhere new every day. With a yawn, he stretched his body, working out all the sleep ridden kinks. Austin stood up off the floor and bent backwards a bit, effectively popping his stiff back.

"Good morning!" He shouted to no one, his voice bouncing off the empty walls. Austin grinned and grabbed his backpack off the floor. He slung it comfortably onto his back. "Next stop, Miami Beach." Austin walked out of the house and began heading towards his destination. He had about a full day's walk ahead of him, but he didn't mind. He liked walking.

Loneliness was something that Austin had learn how to cope with. He had met other drifters and they had even partnered up for a while, but they would always end up parting ways. It was easier for the police to tell if you were a homeless minor when there was more than one. Having a backpack over both your shoulders during mid summer wasn't exactly inconspicuous. He spent most of his life completely alone and had taken to talking to himself. Austin didn't actually believe someone would answer him, he just liked hearing a voice, even if it was his.

Cars flew by as he walked on the sidewalk, his hands shoved in his favorite jean jacket. He happily hummed to himself, the latest tune he heard from the radio stuck in his head. It was a beautiful day out. Blue, cloudless skies and just a slight breeze in the summer heat to keep him comfortable. Of course, it was easy for him to be comfortable. He had grown incredibly tolerant to both heat and cold. It was something he had to pick up if he wanted to survive. Montana would have been a whole lot worse on him otherwise. The weather was perfect, lifting his spirits. He really loved tropical areas, especially ones with beaches.

He got a few strange looks from passing people walking the sidewalk, but he ignored them, having gotten used to the looks a long time ago. They couldn't help it, really. He was covered in dirt from head to toe. A wanderer's life was a dirty life. Austin looked around at the different types of people. Each place always had various mixes of people and he loved people watching. Florida seemed to have a good mix. He must be close to the beach, though. A lot of the women had on shorts and just a bikini top. A lot of the people were well tanned and bore shades. Maybe he should invest in one of his own. Florida _is_ pretty sunny.

The sun was beginning to set by time he saw sand. The beach was mostly empty now, everyone having headed home. Austin jogged a bit, anxious to get to the beach. He could smell the salty air. He was loving it. He loved the ocean and he loved the beach. He wish he could learn how to surf. It looked like a lot of fun.

His converse shoes finally met sand. Austin grinned like a loon. He quickly pulled off his shoes and shoved them in his backpack, not caring that he was getting sand everywhere. He sighed in satisfaction when his bare feet met the sandy ground. It was still warm. He walked the beach, moving to a more deserted part where few people went even during the day. Austin headed towards the water, wanting nothing more but so throw himself in it.

Austin took off his backpack and let it drop on the sand. He stripped off his favorite jacket, not wanting it to get wet, and put it with his backpack. He kept walking forward, toward the moving water. The salty liquid hit his feet. He stood there for a moment, enjoying the feeling. The water was a little warm. It felt great against his nature beaten skin. He couldn't wait any longer. Austin charged forward and jumped into the water. He was soaked in seconds.

He must've swam for hours. It was pitch black now and was still in the water. Austin was floating on his back, looking up at the dark sky. He loved swimming at night. He floated in the water with his eyes closed, enjoying himself. He had swam himself ragged to the point that he couldn't swim anymore. Austin was exhausted now. Finally he left the water, walking back to the shore.

Water dripped off of his soaked body. His thin grey sweat shirt was clinging to small frame like a magnet and his wet jeans felt like they were five pounds heavier. He shook the water off like a dog. He found an outdoor shower and sprayed the salt water off of him. He couldn't remember the last time he had a shower. The water was cold but it felt nice. He gathered up his stuff and found a nice flat rock. He shook himself out a little more and laid on the rock.

He felt content. The dirt had been washed off his body and now he felt a little cleaner. He was going to smell like salt but he didn't mind. He took his shoes out of his backpack and put them back on. He was still wet so he opted the idea of his putting his jean jacket back on. Austin set it aside, close to him so he wouldn't lose it. His backpack became his pillow once again. Austin was out like a light within minutes, falling asleep to the sound of waves.

~0~

People swarmed all around him, making him feel a bit uncomfortable. It wasn't as bad as New York was, but he wasn't used to people. Austin had wandered from the beach and found himself walking into the Miami Mall. The place was busy and it smelled amazing. When was the last time he ate? He couldn't remember. There were so many stores and so many smells, he felt a little dizzy.

Austin wandered around until he found a store that interested him. He wasn't to buy anything, obviously, and he wasn't going to steal either. He was above that, he was just going to look. He walked into the store called Sonic Boom, spotting a guitar on one of the shelves. It was a beautiful acoustic. It was his dream to own a guitar like that. Every instrument looked amazing and pricey. Austin frowned a bit. This was one the downsides of being a drifter; he would never be able to afford something nice like one these amazing instruments.

"Can I help you, sir?" Austin jumped at the unexpected voice. He turned around and was met with the sight of a young beautiful girl. She must have been about his age. She had brown, wavy hair, brown eyes, and her skin was a flawless porcelain. She was wearing a floral orange dress with a small white jacket. her heels were a teal color and she was wearing quite a bit of jewelry.

"You scared the crap out of me." Austin said, gripping his beating heart.

"Oh, I'm so sorry! Are you alright?" She asked frantically.

Austin nodded, showing the girl he was fine. "Do you always scare you're customers like that? You're pretty good at it."

"No, I usually never do that to people. I was just asking if you needed anything. I didn't mean to sneak up on you." She said.

"I was just looking." Austin chuckled out.

"Oh, okay. Sorry for bothering you." She said awkwardly.

"It's cool. You were just doing your job." Austin said. He held out his hand to her. "I'm Austin."

"Ally." She said with a smile, taking his hand. They did a quick shake and let go. "I've never seen you around here, are you new?" She asked curiously.

Austin shrugged. "I'm here visiting relatives." He lied smoothly. That was usually always his cover when someone asked what he was doing in whatever place he was at. It was believable and few people ever questioned it.

"Hey, Ally, who's he?" A Latina girl yelled as she walked over to them. She was about the same height as Ally, maybe a little taller, and had black, tightly curled hair. She was wearing a lot of animal print.

"Hi, Trish. I was just helping out a customer, who didn't need help." Ally said.

Trish raised a curious eyebrow. "He doesn't need help so you're helping him?" She questioned.

"She accidentally scared me when she asked if I needed help so she's apologizing for scaring me instead of actually helping." Austin said. He furrowed his eyebrows in slight confusion. "Wait, is that right?" He thought out loud. "Yeah, yeah that's right."

"And you are?" Trish eyed him suspiciously.

"Trish, don't be rude. This is Austin. He's here visiting family." Ally said.

Austin waved at the dark haired girl. He jumped again when a loud crash erupted from the other side of the room. A tall, redheaded boy with checkered black and white pants, a yellow button down shirt and orange suspenders was sprawled out on the floor, his leg caught in a tuba.

"Dez! What are you doing?" Ally screeched.

"I don't know how this happened." Dez deadpanned from his spot on the floor.

Trish pointed at him, laughing. "Dez lost to a tuba."

"Trish, you're not helping. Help me get him up." Ally said.

The two girls helped lift the redhead off the floor, the tuba still stuck to his foot. Austin couldn't help but inwardly laugh at the sight. What a strange group of friends. He wondered if this was normal for everyday teenagers. Something told him it wasn't. The redhead hopped around the store, attempting to shake off the instrument.

"Dez, careful. I don't want you breaking _another_ tuba." Ally yelled after him.

"Hey, pretty boy," Trish yelled at Austin. "You mind helping?"

Austin gave her a confused look, wondering if she was actually asking him for help, thrown off the strange nickname. Her angry glare got him moving, telling him that she was, in fact, talking to him. He jogged over to Dez, who had fallen again, and grabbed the tuba. He shifted it a bit on his foot and pulled it straight off. Ally gratefully took the tuba from him and put it back on the shelf.

Dez used the counter as leverage and pulled himself back up in a standing position. He warily eyed the blonde and asked, "Who's the hunk?"

Austin raised a confused eyebrow at the redhead. Hunk? Was he talking about him? He had never been called a hunk before. Austin never considered himself to be all that good looking. He knew he wasn't ugly but the word "hunk" was pushing it. This Dez person must've bumped his head when he fell.

"That's Austin." Ally said.

Dez looked at Austin, still suspicious. "Austin who?"

"Austin Moon." The blonde answered.

"I don't believe we've met before." Dez said.

"He's visiting family, he's not from around here." Ally answered for him.

"Where you from, then?" Trish asked as she and Ally walked over to the two boys.

"Chicago." Austin said. "But my family travels around a lot."

"Whoa, Chicago? That's so cool!" Dez said excitement, jumping up and down.

"Calm down, Doofus." Trish said in annoyance.

"Are you okay, Austin? You look a bit uncomfortable." Ally asked.

"I'm fine, but I should probably be leaving. I'll see you guys around." Austin said slowly, unsure of the sanity of the three. He left the store and sped walked out the mall, overwhelmed by people for the day. They were nice and everything, but they were a bit much for someone like him, who isn't used to human company at all. He left the mall and went in search of an abandoned building to crash in.

~0~

"You two scared him away." Ally said.

"It's not my fault he can't handle being in the same room as Dez." Trish said.

"Yeah! Wait. Hey!" Dez shouted.

"He seemed really nice." Ally said as she cleaned up the counter.

"Not to mention that he was hot." Trish said, wiggling her eyebrows at Ally.

"He was," Ally said dreamily. "You think he likes music?"

"Probably, he did walk into a music store." Trish said.

"I bet he does, but just can't help but wonder why he had a backpack." She said.

"Who knows and who cares. Dez carries a backpack around all the time." Trish pointed out.

"I guess that's true, but did you see the way he reacted when Dez called him a hunk? It's like he's never been complimented before." Ally said.

"Yeah, I did notice that. I called him pretty boy and he looked like he thought I was talking to a monkey." Trish said.

"He's kinda strange, but I like him. He smelled like salt water, though. Which was a bit weird." Ally said.

"Austin probably went to the beach earlier." Trish said.

"He's from Chicago." Dez said with a grin.

The two girls looked at him with annoyed faces. "We know, Dez."

* * *

Austin found a large, Victorian home. It was falling apart and it looked like no one had been living there for nearly a decade. He slipped through the back, just in case someone was watching. It was dusty and the wood creaked loudly with every step. There were holes in the walls and he could stains on the ceiling from water leaks. The stairs leading to the second story looked like they were about to fall to pieces at any moment.

Austin grinned, he liked it.

The building was probably beautiful when it was first built. he could see the ghost of what it looked like in every room. The faded, expensive wallpaper and the hand carved wooden stairwell, whispered the past beauty of the home. There was an old, worn, ratty couch sitting in the living room. He threw his bag on it. He cautiously sat down on it. It creaked and groaned under his weight but held.

He smiled and laid down on the filthy piece of furniture. The cushions were worn and the springs were rusted, but Austin was comfortable. He sprawled his body out, content with his new run down adobe. The couch creaked loudly again. This time, he could hear something shifting. He sat up a little, his face etched with worry.

_Crash_

The tiny legs holding the couch up suddenly snapped all at once. Austin jumped as the entire couch shifted downwards. Bits of wood flew out from underneath him. The force of the couch's fall kicked up dust. He carefully sat up the broken furniture as the dust cleared. he looked down at the broken legs. They were shattered beyond repair. The couch's underbelly was laying fully on the floor now. Austin smiled and began laughing. He still technically had a couch, so he didn't care.

* * *

Chapter 1 everyone. Austin meets Ally, Trish, and Dez. Thank's so much for the reviews so far, I hope you guys enjoy this chapter.


	3. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I do not own Austin and Ally.

* * *

Dirty Jean Jacket

Chapter 2

Every cabinet door in the kitchen stood open in the old rundown Victorian house. Inside the cabinets were a few plates, glasses and the occasional can of food. Everything was coated in a thick layer or dust. There were a few handprints and smears in the dust from the boy that was rummaging through the cabinets. Austin grabbed a dusty can and wiped the dust off the label; cream corn. With a disgusted face, he threw the can over his shoulder and grabbed another can. Cream corn again. He chucked it over his shoulder just like the other one. He found another can and dusted that one.

"Cream corn, cream corn, what's with all the cream corn?" He yelled to himself, throwing the can. He hated cream corn. Well, he just hated corn in general. So far, every can that he found was cream corn.

He slammed the cabinet door shut. It bounced against the wood and creaked back open. "Stupid house and its stupid cream corn." He grumbled under his breath. He gave up on the cabinets and decided to see what was upstairs. He had already explored the downstairs, finding a large room, a bathroom and a hallway that lead to what looked like an office. Or at least, it used to be. All the rooms were empty excluding a few random objects that gave him a clue as to what they were used for. The bathroom was obvious: a toilet, counter, and a broken mirror. He found a dresser in the bedroom and the office had what looked like an computer desk along with a metal filing cabinet that was rusted beyond belief. Bored with the downstairs, he left the kitchen and passed through the living room were the couch he had broken laid. Austin looked up the creaky stairs. All he could see was wood and a wall with peeling wallpaper.

Austin tested the rail, finding that it swayed when he touched it. He left it alone and tested the first step. It creaked a bit but held true. He smiled a little and went up another step. The stairwell creaked but stayed stable. Austin took a few more steps up the stairs, his smile growing larger with every stair that held him. Once he got up the stairs, he inspected the area. The upstairs split into two separate hallways. Austin could see a bedroom at each end. There was a closet door in the left hallway and an open door that lead to a bathroom in the right.

He spent nearly four hours upstairs, going through every room and looking in every door. There were a few left over pieces of furniture and the upstairs bathroom mirror was in much better shape than the one downstairs. The closet was completely empty, except for mouse droppings. There was barely anything in the house and his exploration was met with disappointment.

The blonde was about ready to go downstairs when something caught his eye. On the ceiling, was what looked like a small door. A small, barely noticeable chain hung from the little door. "What do we have here?" With a grin, he grabbed the chain and pulled. A small of stairs came down, leading up an attic.

Ever so carefully, he made his way up the stairs. They protested loudly under his weight. The attic was even dustier than the rest of the house. Cobwebs were in every corner of the room. The only light that came through was from a octagon shaped window in the center of the far wall. It was dark out now and it was a bit hard to see in the attic, his only light being the moon. He looked down and grinned at what was on the floor. Various, dust covered boxes were sitting randomly throughout the room. They looked like they hadn't been touched in ages. Most of the boxes were standard cardboard boxes while others were wooden chests. Austin vaguely wondered who used live in this house.

He kneeled in front of one of the chests and found that it was unlocked. He sat down on the dusty floor and opened the chest. There was random articles of clothing and bed sheets. He had no bed and the clothes were for a woman, making them useless to him. Austin shut the chest and moved to the other one. He found more sheets and a few pieces of what he suspected were doilies. Austin was about to give up on that chest when something shiny caught his eye. It was coming from the very bottom of the chest. He dug down, throwing the sheets out the way to get to whatever was at the bottom.

It was a necklace. A whistle necklace. It was a silver tube whistle and it was in great shape, which was something that he found surprising, it looked like it was vintage. There was a intricately carved full moon in the center of the metal whistle. He dusted it off a bit and put it around his neck. Austin put the whistle in his mouth and blew. The high pitched sound echoed throughout the attic. Austin opened his mouth, letting the piece of metal fall back onto his chest, and grinned. He was _so_ keeping it.

The blonde's stomach growled in hunger, alerting its owner that it was empty. Austin cringed a bit, trying to remember the last time he had a nice meal. Never. He shut the chest and made his way down the stairs. His stomach growled once more. He almost tripped, his foot stepping onto a thrown can of cream corn. Austin took his foot off of it and looked down at its label.

"Why did it have to be cream corn?" He asked no one. He bent down and picked the can up. Austin sighed in defeat. He didn't steal, not unless he absolutely had to. It was his last resort. He only had about forty dollars and he needed that cash for other essentials. The blonde originally had eighty dollars but spent it on food. Austin couldn't afford to spend all his money on one thing. He was hungry and he really didn't have much of a choice.

With the can in hand, he walked over to the broken couch and sat down. He reached into his backpack and pulled out a can opener-one of the best investments of his life. Austin sighed, staring at the can for a few moments. "You better not be poisonous." He grumbled to the can. He ground the can open and threw the lid behind him. The metal clanged against the wooden floor.

He took and whiff of the can's contents and wrinkled his nose in distaste. "Oh great," He drawled sarcastically, "It's good."

~0~

"Dez, put that down!" Ally yelled in a sharp whisper, not wanting to alert an employee. "I don't want us to get thrown out."

The redhead put down the store manikin he was dancing with and fixed her hair. "Sorry." He said.

Trish shook her head at Dez's antics. "We really need to find him a friend." She said.

"We're his friends." Ally said.

"A _male_ friend. Someone who will actually do all that crazy stuff that he does with him." Trish specified. "We never get to go out with just the two of us anymore. "

"What about that Austin kid?" Ally suggested. "I bet they would get along really well."

"Yeah, except that we only just met him and he doesn't live here. Besides, we might not ever see him again." Trish argued.

"Hey, guys! Look, It's Austin!" Dez yelled at that them, pointing across the street from the store they were at. Austin was walking along the sidewalk, his hands shoved in his jacket. He seemed content with himself as walked alone. Dez waved at him. "Hey, Austin! Over here!"

The blonde slowed his walk, looking over to see who was yelling at him. He looked confused, like he didn't know why Dez was yelling at him. He gave a slow wave back. Dez's eyebrow went up in confusion when Austin didn't come over to say hi. Instead, the blonde kept walking, his backpack bouncing a bit as he walked.

"Hey, wait!" Dez ran out into the street, barely dodging traffic as he scrambled to get to Austin.

"Dez, are crazy?" Ally yelled at him.

Austin stood on the sidewalk and watched in horror as the redhead ran to him. He stared at Dez with wide, shocked eyes once the taller boy reached him.

Dez heaved for air when he came to stop, in front of the blonde. "Hey." He said.

"Are you nuts? You could have been killed." Austin asked.

"I had to get you to stop somehow." Dez said.

"You didn't have put your life in danger to do it, though." Austin shot back.

Ally and Trish carefully ran across the road, going when there was break in traffic. "Dez, you almost caused a wreck." Trish said as they reached the boys.

"Hi, Austin." Ally said.

Austin forced a smile. "Hi." He said with an awkward wave.

"So," Ally said. "What brings you out here?"

"Just checking out the town." Austin shrugged. "What're you guys doing?"

"Clothes shopping." Trish answered.

"And Dez went you guys?" Austin asked.

"Of course I did. Why wouldn't I?" Dez said.

"It's a women's store that only sells women's clothing." Austin pointed out. "Don't you have any guy friends to hang out with?"

Before Dez could answer, Trish pushed the redhead closer to Austin. "He does now. You two have fun. Ally and I are going to go have some girl time, see ya!" Trish grabbed Ally's wrist and dragged her away from the boys.

"Whoa, hey wait a minute!" Austin yelled after the girls.

"Bye!" Dez yelled. He turned to Austin, a cheesy grin spread across his face. "Looks like it's just us now."

"I guess so." Austin said, unsure about how he felt about being stuck with the redhead.

"So, what do want to do?" Dez asked.

"I don't know. What do you do for fun around here?" Said Austin.

"We can go to my house and play video games." Dez suggested.

Austin bit his lip, sucking in air as he did so. "Eeh, I don't know."

"Oh come on, it'll be fun!" Dez insisted, jumping up an down like a five-year old.

"Are you sure?" Austin asked.

"Of course I am. Why not? Come on, you'll love it." Dez said.

"Fine." The blonde breathed out.

"Yay!" Dez ran the other direction, heading to what Austin suspected was where his house was.

The blonde walked after the taller boy, silently debating if it was a good idea to go to his house. He hadn't planned on becoming friends with anyone when he came to Miami. He knew there would be no point. They were from completely different worlds and Austin would be gone when his week here was over. He had nothing against the three, in fact, he actually like them. They were a bit crazy, but they seemed like really nice people.

Austin watched the excited redhead ramble on about a video game that he had never heard of. Austin had never played a video game in his entire life. Video games costed money that he didn't have. He smiled at the sight of Dez's cheesy grin. He wondered if he never had a friend outside of Trish and Ally. Something told him he didn't.

"We're here." Dez said, interrupting Austin's train of thought.

Austin's eyes went wide at the sight of Dez's house. It was a simple two-story home. The lawn was well trimmed and there wasn't a spec of trash in sight. The home was rather beautiful and the paint looked almost new. It was an average upper middle-class home and it was nothing like what Austin was used to.

They walked in the front door, Austin took in every bit of the house with an uncertain eye. The front door had a small stain glass window in it. Inside, the foyer was well polished wood. Dez kicked off his shoes there, leaving them with other pairs. Austin followed suit, unsure on what else to do. The carpet in the living room was clean with a few stains here and there. There was a leather couch and loveseat to match it. They looked like they were a bit worn but still in good shape. Pictures decorated the walls, showing Dez's family. He could see the kitchen's hard floors and the dining table.

"Come on, the T.V.'s downstairs." Dez said.

Austin hesitantly followed him down a set of carpeted stairs. He grabbed onto the railing, finding that it didn't sway or creak under his grip. The stairs didn't groan under him. All he could hear was the sound of his and Dez's footsteps. The carpet felt nice in his socked feet. He never felt a carpet so plush in his life.

"Whoa." Austin gasped. Dez's T.V. was a huge flatscreen mounted on the wall and it was surrounded by large speakers. He could recall some of his foster families had T.V.'s as well but they were much smaller and not as nearly as nice. The orphanage didn't have one, not for the kids at least. He remembered that the caretaker had on in her private quarters, but no one was aloud in there but her. He had seen flatscreen televisions on display before but he had never actually been able to see one up close like now.

"You like it?" Dez asked with a grin.

"This is so awesome!" Austin said like a giddy child.

"Wait until I turn it on." Dez said. He grabbed a remote and suddenly, the T.V. came to life. Austin watched in fascination as Dez set of a gaming system. Dez called it an Xbox. Austin had heard about them but had never actually seen one. He played with the controller Dez handed him, hitting the colorful buttons. Dez kicked on the game and turned on the stereo system.

Austin jumped from his spot on the plush couch positioned in front of the T.V. He scrambled onto the back of it as a loud noise suddenly blasted from the speakers. He panicked, dropping the controller. He gripped the couch with his fists, attempting to keep himself from completely losing it.

"Austin? Hey, what's wrong." Dez said hurriedly, trying to calm the frantic blonde.

He looked at the redhead through a haze of panic, unsure what to do. Growing up, he had never been around speakers. They were foreign to him. In all honesty, he should have known that he would freak out the first time he heard them. It didn't help that Dez had turned them up so loud. The whole room seemed to be vibrating.

Dez turned down the speakers, realizing what was causing Austin such severe distress. "Dude, it's alright. It's just the speakers. Calm down." Dez put a steady hand on Austin's arm. He pulled just a little, attempting to get the blonde to sit back down on the couch cushion. Austin let him move him back. He sat back on the couch, calmer but still a bit stirred up. "You alright?" Dez asked.

Austin nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine. I'm sorry, I just wasn't expecting the uh...yeah." He nervously murmured.

"God, you act like you've never been around a speaker before." Dez tried to joke with a grin.

"I, uh. I haven't" Austin confessed.

Dez's eyes widened. "Really?"

"Really." Austin nervously picked the controller off the floor.

"Wow," Dez said, amazed. "Have you ever played a video game before?" He asked.

Austin shook his head. "No."

"Wow," Said Dez, awed. "You must live one heck of sheltered life."

"That's one way to put it." Austin said discretely.

"No worries. I'll teach you all you need to know about video games. We'll just keep the volume low until you can get used to it." Dez said with a grin.

Austin grinned back. "Okay."

"I'll show you one of my favorite games. It's a lot of fun and it's really easy to learn how to play." Dez said, showing Austin the button's on the blonde's controller. He went through what all the buttons did. Austin picked up on it pretty quickly and soon, they were playing.

It was the first time Austin had ever played a video game and it was the first time he had ever sat in a normal home. For the first time in a long time, he felt like he didn't have to be worried about food or money or where he would sleep that night. He actually felt like a normal teenage boy, something he had never experienced in his life.

He and Dez were laughing and carrying on in a way that Austin had never done. They stayed up all night playing video games. Once Austin got the hang of it, he began to love it. Dez eventually turned up the speakers, Austin having gotten used to the loud noise. They played together like they had known each other their entire lives. He had just met Dez just over twenty-four hours ago but it already felt like they were best friends. That was something Austin never had before.

A best friend.

* * *

Here you are. Chapter two. Again, thank you so much for all the reviews. You guys are awesome. There's some bonding time with Austin and Dez. More to come in later chapters. I hope this chapter lives up to you're expectations and enjoy.


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